In general, an electrical connector assembly conventionally includes a pair of electrical connectors such as plug and receptacle or other male and female connectors that mate together in a particular configuration. Each connector conventionally includes an insulating or dielectric housing within which are mounted one or more electrical terminals. The terminals may be hard wired to electrical wires or cables, or one or both of the connectors may be mounted to a printed circuit board with the terminals coupled to circuit traces on the board. In any event, the terminals of the two mating connectors also mate or interconnect in a particular configuration. For instance, a female or receptacle terminal may be adapted for receiving a male or pin terminal.
In connector assemblies of the character described above, a positive connection between the mating connectors typically is ensured by one or more of the following systems: (a) positive locking between the connector housings; (b) positive locking between the terminals; or (c) frictional retention between the housings and/or the terminals. Each of these systems heretofore has created various problems.
In particular, when the locking function is performed by positive locking between the connector housings, such as integrally molded or separate metallic latches, the housings often involve complicated molds or costly secondary components and assembly, and consequently create a larger envelope size for the overall connector assembly in order to accommodate these locking mechanisms. This is highly undesirable particularly in contemporary proposals for greater miniaturization of electrical connector assemblies. In the case of secondary metallic latches, the costs of the separate dies and secondary assembly procedures can drastically increase the costs associated with the connectors. Furthermore, the latches may be inadvertently unlocked, broken or removed from the housing and the connectors inadvertently uncoupled.
When positive locking occurs between the terminals themselves, excessive mating forces often make unmating of the connectors difficult, if not impossible. This is particularly true when one or both of the interlocked terminals must be "actuated" in order to release the locking mechanism. In other words, locking mechanisms such as depressible cams or wedges must be manually released in order to disconnect the terminals. Furthermore, latching between the terminals can often lead to damage to one or both of the terminals when the connectors are subjected to repeated mating cycles. The locking capability of the releaseable latches eventually degrades as the number of cycles increase.
Frictional retention of the terminals and/or the connector housings often is adversely affected in environments wherein the connectors are subjected to vibrations or thermal expansion which can lead to uncontrolled and undesired unmating of the connectors. Furthermore, a strictly frictional connection does not provide a sensory feedback to a user as to the complete mating of the connectors, thereby increasing the risk of open circuits and incomplete or partial mating in such applications.
The present invention is directed to solving the myriad of problems outlined above by providing a positive connection between mating connectors by employing a removably latchable mating terminal structure that does not compromise the locking capability of the structure over a large number of mating cycles, yet still provides a sensory or tactile feedback upon complete mating of the component male and female terminals.